Local Resident Starts Non-Profit

Donna Simone-Sofo would like you to take a moment to imagine how many people you could help if you and all your neighbors donated just a dollar a month to a worthy cause.

The local resident says that’s the ultimate goal behind Yorktown Love in Action, the non-profit organization she recently launched to help distressed families pay bills, daily expenses and even mortgages on their houses.

“Think about how many homes we could save!” she mused.

Here’s how it works: families can apply to Yorktown Love in Action for assistance paying for car insurance, commuting costs and more.

But she will not hand them cash. If Simone-Sofo is paying an electric bill, for example, she will pay it to the company directly. Or if she is putting gas in someone’s car to drive to work, she will meet them at the gas station.

“The idea is to help people catch up with their bills,” she said. “They fill out our application, we interview them and my board and I decide if we can help them.”

Simone-Sofo and her team plan to secure funding for the organization by way of private donations and support from local businesses.

DeCicco’s Family Market in Jefferson Valley, for example, will now offer customers the option to donate to Yorktown Love in Action. The Cutting Edge, Yorktown Insurance Company and Energy Movement Center in Peekskill will also be doing their part to help.

The organization will also soon be opening a used-clothing and wig store for children and adults. Open to the public, proceeds made at the location on Crompond Road will be directly donated to the cause.

“Everybody says to me, ‘you’re doing a wonderful thing,’” adds Simone-Sofo. “I want YOU to be doing the wonderful thing.”

She says she could not have gotten Yorktown Love in Action off the ground without the help of her husband Frank, daughter Tatianna and son Paco.

The organization will be holding its Valentine Fundraisers this Feb. 7 at Little Sorrento Ristorante in Yorktown and Feb. 21 at Piazza Roma Ristorante in Cortlandt.

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